Avalanche knock off Kings in shootout behind Svatos and Hejduk

LOS ANGELES -- The Colorado Avalanche extended their winning
streak in shootouts to eight with two goals, even after losing two
players to aggressive checks against the boards.

Marek Svatos and Milan Hejduk scored in the first two rounds of
the shootout, giving the Avalanche a 4-3 victory over the Los
Angeles Kings on Saturday night. The only teams that won more
consecutive times in the tiebreaker are Dallas (11) and Minnesota
(nine).

Colorado defenseman Adam Foote left the game with a back injury
at 6:51 of the second period. He was chasing the puck into the left
corner of the Avalanche zone when Kings forward John Zeiler shoved
him into the boards with his right forearm. Foote remained
motionless on his stomach for several moments while his teammates
went after Zeiler.

"I heard it, then I turned around and I saw Foote on the ice,"
Colorado forward Ian Laperriere said. "I kind of knew it wasn't a
clean hit because [Zeiler] is known for that. He did that last
year, checking guys from behind and stuff like that. So we all
jumped in there to back up our teammate."

The play occurred right in front of referee Stephane Auger, who
made no call until after the ensuing fight broke out. Zeiler
received a five-minute boarding major and a game misconduct. Foote
eventually got up and was escorted off the ice by Laperriere and a
trainer. The Avalanche ended up with a 3-minute power play, but
came up empty.

It was only the second game this season for Zeiler, who racked
up 45 penalty minutes in 59 NHL games before this season.

"He's a young player and he wants to make a big impression, but
that's the wrong way to do it," Laperriere said. "You can be
physical without being dirty -- and it was a dirty hit from behind.
I mean, those hits have to stop before somebody gets killed. The
league can do so much, suspension-wise, but as players we've got to
be smarter -- coaches, too."

A similar incident occurred with 11:46 left in regulation.
Wojtek Wolski chased a loose puck behind the Kings' net and Sean
O'Donnell sent his head against the boards with his right elbow,
leaving the Colorado forward woozy for several moments. He made it
to the dressing room under his own power, and no penalty was
called.

"We came here for a battle and we came out with two points, so
that's all that matters," Laperriere said. "They're a young team,
they work hard, and we knew they were going to until the end. It's
a huge win for our team. We're not winning as many games as we want
to, but we're playing good hockey."

Hejduk and Wolski scored power-play goals for the Avalanche, and
Paul Stastny tied it with 15:31 left in the third period.

O'Sullivan tied it 2-all just 49 seconds into the third period.
Budaj stopped O'Sullivan's initial shot from the left circle, but
left a long rebound. Anze Kopitar got the puck and fed it behind
the net to O'Sullivan, who was stopped on a wraparound and flipped
the rebound over Budaj's glove.

Brown put the Kings ahead for the first time at 2:03 of the
period, splitting through the defense and taking a wrist shot that
trickled through Budaj's pads. But Stastny tied it about 2½ minutes
later when he redirected Scott Hannan's one-timer from the left
point past Erik Ersberg's glove.

"You look at that game, and we obviously didn't play as well as
we would have liked in the second or the first. But we battled
back, and that's the key thing," Brown said. "A shootout loss is
a shootout loss, but it's a good point."

Trailing 2-0, the Kings used their power play to get on the
board at 14:45 of the second period after Wolski received a
4-minute high-sticking penalty for cutting Kyle Quincey. Frolov
beat Budaj from the left circle.

The Avalanche, 2-for-34 on the power play over their previous
eight games, opened the scoring at 17:10 of the first period during
an advantage. Hejduk beat Ersberg to the glove side with a wrist
shot from the top of the left circle that caromed in off the right
post.

"They have a lot of skilled forwards and they all shoot the
puck," Brown said. "A lot of their chances were off the scramble
of blocked shots. Whether they were getting blocked or Ersberg was
making saves, it's hard for our defensive group to respond to all
the shots."

Frolov was serving a penalty for slashing Hannan when Wolski
cruised down the slot and converted Stastny's centering pass at
5:59 of the second period, giving the Avalanche a 2-0 lead.

Game notes

Avalanche captain Joe Sakic and Kings executive Luc
Robitaille recorded video messages that were shown during Saturday
night's ceremony in Montreal where the Canadiens retired Patrick
Roy's No. 33 jersey. Robitaille scored 16 goals in 39 career games
against Roy, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Sakic missed
his fifth straight game due to a sore back. ... Svatos left
Thursday night's game with an abdominal injury after he was elbowed
by Calgary's Dion Phaneuf and was hospitalized, but went through a
full practice on Friday.